Ste Story wrote:So are you Mikey Thomsons dad or brother? Presume it's him you're related to seen as he's the one you're always talking about.
No idea about any of the other stuff mind, shame if the performance centre isn't living up to its potential but as always there's surely two sides to every story?
Well my side is here to see, and so is that letter! That letter was given to me by the parent of another player. I knew about the letter when i made the original post but didnt mention it till i had seen it myself
Yes I am Mikeys dad, I'm extremely proud of him (and his brother) but this isnt just a case of sour grapes.
I've seen Mikey rejected by Man Utd after 3 games, Burnley & Preston after 3mth trials so although its hard to take its a fact of life and after all that rejection he still managed to get in the Barrow 1st team, if only briefly.
I admit his performance this season has probably been his worst since he played for Barrow Celtic under 7's when he was 5, and i can see how his attitude and frustration has been this year.
Not being played in his normal position and playing in a team thats used over 40 different players in 21 games has not help his consistancy this season at all, if thats how the manager wants to run that team then thats his decision.
My only issue is the way this has been handled, myself and several other parents are quite furious with the whole affair and the timing of it. And most of all false accusations of drug taking, this i will not drop.
Play Mikey in his normal position, give him the right service and he's as good as anyone in the performance centre, and better than most. This isnt me just saying this as a parent but as a football fan and its also the opinion of many others. If this wasnt the case then he wouldnt have achieved what he has or played in the teams/games he has, the fact is he has/had a lot of potential, he showed in the games he played for the first team he wasnt out of his depth, its a pity that the current coach couldnt develop him further.
Si_Nichols - I have emailed the club asking about this, I understand Mikeys mother has also written to them. I spoke to 1 parent today who has phoned the author of that letter several times today and the calls went unanswered, and another parent who had a text reply from the same person who claimed to know nothing about it!!! Read into that what you will.
Had this just been a simple case of Mikey being let go, i doubt i would have even mentioned it, but when there are lies, accusations and false promises i decided to be a bit vocal about it. i have a personal opinion on what i think has happened and why, but i'll keep that to myself as i cant prove anything, all i'm interested in is getting to the truth behind this wall of lies that has come out.
If this ends up making certain people look bad, then so be it. Do we want our kids being developed into potential 1st team players, its probably to late for Mikey and the others who have been there the last 6+yrs, but there will be kids in the future who will come through unless their face doesnt fit or they suffer from false accusations.
To add another point, when Mikey signed for Barrow he was signed on a contract agreeing to pay him £30 for every squad appearance, after a month he was handed £80 and was told it was 'bonus' payments for the cup games, many months went by and still no payments. I contacted AFC and Uncle Peter was very helpful but even then it took till a couple of days (3-4) before the sale went through to Mr Casson, the company handling the sale and clearing the debts before the sale went through contacted me as they had no idea he was owed money. Somebody knew about it because the Evening Mail had phoned Mikey at home to ask about him being owed money (he refused to comment).
When his payment arrived we did query it as it seemed a little short to what he was expecting and were told no it is right, the 'bonus' payments he had received we were told were not bonus payments, there was no such thing is what we were told! It left a little bitter taste but I could easily have come on here and moaned about it. I only bring it up now to show i'm just not the moaning type who will just moan about anything, but this whole issue has seriously [SwearFilter] me off, mostly the false accusations.
Some more facts:
Players who have started in 1 or 2 games have been kept on, players who have started in half the games haven't! Explain that? If your good enough to be kept on then surely your good enough to be starting games.
A couple of players didnt get letters but only received a text saying they wouldnt be playing again this season as the U16's were being given a game instead, and that goes back a fair few months.
Some players were taken into a meeting room to be told they were being released, some just got a letter handed to them after training. One player got told by another player at a training session for another club, some were told by text.
As I've said before there is one game left, and the majority of the players knew they would have to leave at the end of the season due to being to old for next season, why spring this on them with one game left????
Makes you wonder who is taking drugs!!!!!!!
I work in retail, i run a fairly large shop. At xmas i take on extra staff, they know their last shift will be xmas eve. I dont turn up on Dec 20th and tell them thats it your out today, your attitude is all wrong and your taking drugs, here's a letter saying so, but if you improve i'll have you back as an Easter temp!!!
